Gwynedd Mercy cruises past Germantown Academy in 3

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LOWER GWYNEDD >> Lizzy Ferguson is an athlete for all seasons at Gwynedd Mercy Academy, the junior a member of the school’s volleyball, basketball and lacrosse teams.

The junior, however, has been mulling the option of focusing on just one.

“I’ve be deciding recently whether it was volleyball or lacrosse, but I think I’m going to go with volleyball,” she said.

Tuesday afternoon in GMA’s season-opening contest with Germantown Academy, Ferguson showed why that could be a wise decision. The visiting Patriots had trouble keep the Monarchs’ middle hitter from putting down balls as she posted 10 kills on a .667 hitting percentage.

“She put some ball down today that we never she her put that like that,” Gwynedd Mercy coach Michael Nguyen said. “She doesn’t play year-round so it’s great to see her development. She’s been on varsity, this is her junior year. She’s been on varsity since she’s been a freshman. So it’s great watching her development into this middle hitter.”

Ferguson and a strong service game were big reasons why the Monarchs had little trouble in the non-league contest. GMA cruised the first two games – capping the opening set with a 20-1 run – then held on in the third to complete a 25-7, 25-7, 25-23 sweep of the Patriots.

“We were all really pumped going into the first game, obviously,” Ferguson said. “We had a couple scrimmages last week and we were just all really pumped and I think we kept up the momentum really well.”

Abigail Kress added another 10 kills and collected seven aces, including six straight during a 12-0 GMA (1-0) run during the second game. Libero Lauren Holland collected 15 digs and six aces.

“They had some good servers. I think they hit the seams really well, that’s what they were really good at. And I think it kind of confused our returners,” Germantown Academy coach Daniel Sullivan said. “That’s definitely something we need to work on.”

The Monarchs’ quality from the service line may not have come from offseason repetition, as the cozy confines of the GMA gym with a two-court layout make it tricky to practice that aspect of the game.

“We’ve always been pretty good with serving, but with our gym setup the way it was we only had one court here, one court here there’s not much room to serve from, so, we’re not in a real game situation,” GMA coach Michael Nguyen said.

After struggling in the first two sets, the Patriots did not allow Gwynedd Mercy to finish things out easily. GA (0-1) rebounded for a slow start to twice take the lead – the last time at 17-16 before the Monarchs strung together three straight points to go ahead for good.

“It was a tough first couple of sets, there were some stinkers, but like I said to them I want to see an adjustment out of them and that’s what we saw,” Sullivan said. “We were in that last set, that third set. I expected to win it, they expected to win it. That’s what I want to see. I want to see in-game adjustments, adjustments at the set.”

“I’m not happy about the loss, but I’m kind of happy about the way we reacted.”

Jenna Schumann had seven kills and two digs, Cat Polisano handed out 14 assists and Shannon Topley made six digs for Germantown Academy.

Gwynedd Mercy, which fell to Villa Maria in the both the Catholic Academies and District 1-AA semifinals last season, is hopeful Tuesday’s victory was the start of a successful 2016. The Monarchs try to keep the momentum going Wednesday at home in its league opener against St. Basil at 5:15 p.m.

“We only lost one senior (from) last year, she’s a setter, so we’re pretty much the same team as we were last year,” Ferguson said. “We did pretty well last year. Expect big things, we should have a good season.”

Germantown Academy is back on the court 5 p.m. Friday at Lawrenceville School.

“We had a long weekend, obviously with the (Labor Day) holiday and we didn’t practice a lot, I think that hurt us,” Sullivan said. “That’s no excuse. But yeah, definitely, we’ll get in a groove.”

Five straight points – four on Topley’s serve put GA up 5-3 in the opening game with the visitors holding a 6-5 edge on a GMA serving error. The Monarchs, however, responded with an 8-0 run capped by a Holland ace for a 13-6 advantage.

GA got within six after a time out, but Gwynedd Mercy close the game by collecting the next 12 points – 11 on Kayla Perre’s serve. Ferguson cemented the 25-7 win with a hard swing that resulted in a Patriots dig attempt coming across the net and out of bounds.

“You just got to angle balls, figure out where the weak spots are,” Ferguson said.

The Monarchs never trailed in Game 2, jumped out to a 6-2 lead and blew the set wide open with a 12-0 run – featuring Kress’ six consecutive aces – that put the home side up 19-4. GA collected the next two points before Gwynedd Mercy ended five of the last six, including the last four, for another 25-7 victory.

Gwynedd Mercy again grabbed an early 6-2 lead in the third game, but this time the Patriots rallied to pull level at 8-8 with the set even again at 11-11.

Down 15-12, Germantown Academy rattled off four straight to go up 16-15. GA lead once more at 17-16 before a three-point spurt put Gwynedd Mercy ahead 19-17. GA took the next point but the Monarchs

GMA went out to a 6-2 lead in the third game, but Germantown Academy rallied to tie the set at 8-8. Down 15-12, the Patriots won four straight points to go up 16-15 and led again at 17-16 before the Monarchs answered with a 7-1 run for a 23-18 advantage. GA fought off two match points but Gabrielle Greene drop in a ball from the middle that found the floor for the 25-23 win.

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Mike Cabrey

Mike Cabrey
Mike Cabrey is the Assistant Sports Editor for The Reporter and Montgomery News. Email him at mcabrey@thereporteronline.com.

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